Hearing protection, such as ear muffs, ear plugs, and noise canceling headphones are often utilized in various applications where loud, ambient noises can contribute to long term hearing loss. An example of such an application can be a construction site where noise levels of construction equipment can reach hearing affecting decibel (dB) levels. However, in such an application, speech from people in the vicinity of the person wearing the hearing protection device may also be attenuated along with the ambient construction noises. Currently, hearing protection devices may contain integrated radios capable of relaying speech among people utilizing a similar frequency to communicate.
However, such hearing devices have a short range microphone that is capable of picking up speech and transmitting it, on a select frequency to any other person dialed into the same frequency that is within range. Since the voices of the other people on the same frequency are audible at the same volume, it can be difficult to distinguish to whom a person is talking to unless the person acknowledges it in the conversation. It can also be distracting for a person not participating in a conversation to have to listen to the conversation which may not pertain to them.